Delilah

“Most of the guys are gone by now,” I uttered to Tori, one of my closest friends. I’d managed to grab her an extra ticket to tonight’s game, which the Timberwolves had won. “You’ll get to meet a few of them, though.”

“What about that one who keeps shoving his tongue down your throat?” Tori’s eyes sparkled back at me just as the door swung open and Rod walked out of the locker room. His hair was still damp from his shower, his skin a warm cocoa, with the darkest eyelashes I’d ever seen on a man. He was gorgeous, his jawline strong, cheekbones high. I could see why preteen girls taped posters of him on their walls, but he was so cocky, so shameless. He wasn’t anyone I could ever date. Alarm bells rang loud and clear when he was in the room.

“Hey, Grey.”

“Hey—”

“I’m Tori Fountain.” My sweet, overly friendly friend burst between us, hand thrust out. “I’m Delilah’s bestie. Can we get a selfie?”

I rolled my eyes, but Rodriguez swung an arm around Tori, tucking her in close under his arm as she fumbled for her phone. “I can take the picture if you want.”

“No, I want a selfie.” Tori puckered her lips. Her blush deepened, her eyes glazing just a little when Rodriguez sent her a panty-melting half-grin.

I nearly threw up in my mouth.

Tori grinned wildly as they posed for the photo.

“They’re a pair.” Cash’s voice warmed my insides.

I sucked in a breath, trying to rid my mind of all the intoxicating thoughts that buzzed when he was around. “I shouldn’t have brought her back here.”

“Probably not your smartest move,” Cash said.

I shot him a glare, crossing my arms.

“Great game tonight, guys,” Tori crooned, eyes dancing from Cash to Rodriguez.

“Sure it woulda been better if we would have had this arm.” Cash’s hand curled around my bicep and sent a current of arousal straight between my thighs. “Didn’t know you had it in you, champ.”

“Of course she does. She’s like baseball royalty.” Tori grinned, and I sighed, thinking I didn’t want to get into that conversation now, or ever.

“Royalty?” I caught Cash’s arched eyebrow.

“Her dad, her granddad, even her godfather. It’s, like, a dynasty,” Tori sputtered on to my horror. She always got too chatty when she was nervous, but why did it have to be about me this particular time?

“She’s been drinking, don’t listen to her.” I grumbled, digging in my purse for my phone so I could pretend I had an urgent reason to get the hell out of there.

“You guys wanna do dinner tonight? I could eat a fucking pig,” Rodriguez belted.

“That sounds great!” Tori replied, and I tensed.

“Are you sure? Didn’t you say you had something to do tonight?” I shot Tori a serious glance.

“No, not till later. Plus, I’m starving.” She grinned, glancing over at Rodriguez.

“I can get us reservations,” Cash interjected, pulling out his phone.

“No, you guys go on—”

“Call that Brazilian place, Greenwood.”

“I’ve got reservations for four at a Japanese steakhouse.” Cash swiped his thumb, then smiled and pocketed his phone. “They’ve got a floating floor—fish swim right under your table.”

“Sounds great. Whaddya say, ladies?” Rodriguez held out his hand, flashing Tori another one of his trademark grins, making her swoon. I nearly died of embarrassment. I didn’t want to go to this dinner for two reasons, one, the hormonal display of crazy happening in front of me sounded like the worst way to spend my night, and two, Cash's palm at my back, pushing me ahead of him down the hallway proved I couldn’t control myself with him. It was taking everything in me to not stop in my tracks, turn around, and beg him to kiss me.

My heart thudded hopelessly in my chest as Cash and I followed Tori and Rodriguez through the parking garage.

I didn’t know what I’d gotten myself into, but it was proving to be the start of an interesting night for sure.

Twenty minutes later, after a heart-dropping and dangerous ride through the city, we arrived to a trendy new restaurant on the other side of town. A valet opened the door of Rodriguez’s Spider and we all filed out.

Cash’s palm hovering at my waist protectively sent butterflies scurrying in my stomach. I couldn’t deny that I loved his touch on me, but every smart brain cell in my head was telling me that he was all wrong. It took a special kind of woman to love a star athlete, one who could handle millions of other woman ogling their man, and that woman wasn’t me.

“This is great, isn’t it?” Cash pulled me closer to him as we stepped through the doors. A dim, blue-lit space opened up around us. And the floor. The floor was one long pool of crystal blue, all kinds of fish in a rainbow of colors swimming beneath the clear glass.

“This is incredible.” I stepped in, feeling instantly underdressed, even though I was already in business attire for work.

“Great call, man.” Rodriguez patted Cash on the shoulder as we were seated at an intimate table for four in a far corner. I glanced around, noticing most of the tables around us were occupied by couples on dates. We were all out of place here. The guys were still fresh from showers, and while they looked handsome in dark jeans and slim-cut button-downs, most of the men here were wearing suits and ties.

I mustered a smile when Cash pulled out my chair. He was going to get all the wrong ideas from this, and I was going to fall a little deeper under his spell. I should have bailed and grabbed a taxi home, eaten takeout, and caught the replays on ESPN. I had no business having an intimate dinner with Cash fucking Greenwood, star Major League pitcher.

“Relax, Grey.” Cash draped an arm across my shoulder, sliding his thumb around the base of my neck. My eyes shuttered closed, my heart hammering uncontrollably as I thought of us here, together. His hands on me. I sucked in a fortifying breath, which sent a blast of his spicy soap straight to my head.

“Something to drink?” the waiter asked. I nodded, my brain foggy at the proximity of Cash. Why couldn’t I control myself around him? Why was he doing this to me?

“You doin’ okay?” Cash’s breath washed across my neck, the hair feathering across my skin with his words.

“I’m okay,” I finally responded. I hoped he could hear over the hammering of my heart.

“You look beautiful.” Cash trailed a fingertip across my collarbone, visible just above the frilly neckline of my blouse.

I struggled to control my voice. “Thank you.”

“We should have them take a picture of us!” Tori called, jumping up and flagging down a waiter. I smiled genuinely when Cash tucked me in closer to his body as we posed. The flash nearly blinded me, but I prayed the picture was a good one. I knew I’d cherish it, because despite everything between Cash and me, he’d had an impact on me, this entire team had. While Rodriguez could be cocky and mouthy sometimes, that was the biggest problem they had. Nothing beyond healthy competition and positivity radiated from this team, and they deserved to go all the way to the World Series.

“So, what got you into baseball?” Tori asked sweetly.

“It’s the only thing we had in Cuba. Every night I was out at the corner ball field, playing with the old guys. My dad didn’t have much time, he worked too much, but there were always guys at the field. My momma always knew where to find me.” Rodriguez tapped his forehead, emotion warm in his dark eyes.

“Kinda the same for me, too,” Cash chimed in. “My dad wasn’t around a lot. In fact, baseball was about all we had to talk about. I remember getting three home runs on my little league team one day. He was so proud of me. I was only eight, but I swear, that look drove me forward.”

My hand instinctively went to his thigh under the table. I wasn’t thinking, only knew that he was revealing something special about himself, and acknowledging it felt like the only thing I could do.

Cash turned to me, eyes burning up mine. “What about you? What brought you to the ball field?”

“I feel like I’ve never had a choice.” I answered, unfiltered, then regretted it. “I mean, family or work, I keep finding myself in a baseball diamond, no matter what I do.” I tried to laugh off the comment, but it fell on silent ears. I’d said more about myself than I’d ever intended to. Tori knew my entire history, but it’d taken her years for me to open up and tell her all the details.

“You were born to be on a ball field.” Cash fingered a wisp of my hair, sending the edges tickling along my skin. A cool chill raced through me, and I shifted, distracted by the arousal dampening my thighs.

“I don’t know about born to be on a ball field, but there is something about it that feels like home. I swear I didn’t think I’d ever take a job with a baseball team. I’d done every single other sport, but I couldn’t pass this one up for some reason…” I trailed off, smiling up at the waiter as he set glasses of water on the table.

“I wanna hear more about this baseball royalty thing. I want names, Grey,” Rodriguez shot across the table.

“No way,” I laughed.

“Delilah doesn’t tell anyone. I didn’t even know who her dad was for years! That bitch left me hanging!” Tori giggled.

“It’s true.” I looked at Cash. “I don’t tell a soul.”

“I’ll get it out of you.”

“You think so?” I crooked a grin at him.

“I know so,” he promised, sending molten lava through my veins.

“What makes you so confident?” I shot back.

“I’ve got a lot of talents, Ms. Grey.” A shudder raced through my system at his words.

For some reason I believed him.

Cash slipped a thumb under the neckline of my shirt, causing my breath to stick in my throat.

I had a feeling I was going to discover just what those talents were.